Persuasion 200 – Epilogue: The Shocking News About Mrs. Clay

Mrs. Clay’s affections had overpowered her interest, and she had sacrificed, for the young man’s sake, the possibility of scheming longer for Sir Walter.

Marlborough Buildings

Of as little importance as Anne had ever been to Sir Walter and Elizabeth, her marriage made a difference to them. She was gone on her honeymoon, to the seaside of course, as befitted a sailor and his wife; to Plymouth, in fact, where Captain Wentworth could overlook the refitting of the Laconia on the stroll from their boarding house every morning.

Yet they rated the loss of Anne, with her obliging manners and gentle sympathy, as nothing compared to the absence of Mrs. Clay who was, they believed, at her father’s house in London, visiting her children. With both ladies gone, there was no one to keep Sir Walter and Elizabeth company at breakfast, or to accompany them to pay calls, or to be generally helpful in a thousand little ways. In the evenings their absence was felt even more, as they had no entourage to help them make an appropriate entrance into the best drawing-rooms in Bath. The Musgroves had gone home to Uppercross, Lady Russell likewise had returned home, and then there was Mr. Elliot, called away by business to London.

It was altogether a quiet and rather anxious time for the father and daughter. They were much straitened as to money, worried about the servants’ wages, and the new finery so needed to make a good appearance in those drawing-rooms. Sir Walter was concerned at not hearing from his man of business, Mr. Shepherd, though his rents were due; and Elizabeth was most concerned at not having any letter from Mrs. Clay, his daughter, though she had been gone a fortnight.

“So assiduous as she usually is in writing, when she is away!” she complained for the tenth time. “And when she knows how very cut off from every thing we must feel, with no daily companion. I do wonder why she does not write.”

“It is very bad my dear, to be sure. Mrs. Clay is the only one who knows how to do up my cravats; the servants are useless. At least, the poor articles that are all we can afford, are not equal to the task.”

Elizabeth and Mrs. Clay

“And then Mr. Elliot,” Elizabeth lamented. “Really I thought he was growing most attentive – Mrs. Clay did assure me of it, she was always so useful at interpreting those little things that may mean something, or not.”

“Well, well, we must not mope,” put in Sir Walter. “I believe it is almost the Wallises usual time – yes. A little society will be good for our spirits, Elizabeth; I know mine are rather low. Do let us call on the Colonel and the beautiful Mrs. Wallis.”

“Very well,” answered Elizabeth indifferently.

“We may hear something of Mr. Elliot,” Sir Walter reminded her. “You know Colonel Wallis is his closest friend; he may have heard from him. Do put on your blue pelisse, it is less worn than the others.”

“I will,” she said, brightening a little.

It was not a long walk to Marlborough Buildings, and on entering the handsome rooms they found themselves being greeted almost at the door by the pretty, silly Mrs. Wallis, who came hurrying to meet them. Only confined a few weeks earlier, she was generally languor itself, so that to see her off the sofa, was a surprise.

“Madam, I do not have to ask you how you do,” began Sir Walter, surveying her sparkling eyes, freshly curled hair, and pink silk gown that set off her blooming complexion. “You are the picture of health and beauty.”

They were scarcely seated on her fashionable new striped silk chairs, and Mrs. Wallis had gone through the calling for refreshments more hastily than usual, as if her mind was not on what she was doing. She faced her guests, her blue eyes dancing.

“You have some news to hear!”

“Have we? It would seem like good news, judging by your expression,” advanced Sir Walter.

“Perhaps you have heard from Mr. Elliot,” Elizabeth ventured to ask.

“You might say so,” their hostess began, but was interrupted by the entrance of her husband, the tall, handsome colonel, his brow furrowed in amusement.

An English Colonel

“My dear! Our guests have not been here two minutes, and I’m blessed if you are not already telling them the news!” he exclaimed fondly. “No wonder it is always said in Bath, that Colonel Wallis cannot keep a secret. You tell every thing to every one!”

“Well, it is not a secret,” she protested. “Every body knows it, and it is quite a scandal, so it ought to be public knowledge.”

“But what are we to hear?” asked Elizabeth, beginning to feel vaguely worried.

The Colonel nodded indulgently at his wife, and she burst out, “Oh! It is only that Mr. Elliot, and your Mrs. Clay, are together in London, and,” she leaned forward, whispering confidentially, “she is under his protection!”

Elizabeth recoiled, and Sir Walter looked shaken.

“But can it be true?” he asked.

Colonel Wallis nodded. “Indeed it is, I am sorry to report, there is no mistake. I heard from Elliot on business this morning, and he says it as clearly as possible. It is beyond question. She is established – not in an establishment of her own, as might be more discreet, but is actually living with him, as mistress in his own house!”

“I could not have believed it!” burst out Sir Walter. “Mr. Elliot! My own heir! To bring disgrace upon our honoured name like that! It is beyond belief!”

“And Mrs. Clay,” Mrs. Wallis put in. “Was she not your great friend, Miss Elliot? How disappointed in her you must be! And there were some that said she was to marry your father.”

“Certainly not!” he said in disgust. “The daughter of my lawyer – faugh! I hope I should remember what is due to the name of Elliot better than that, and better than my heir does. I wonder what Shepherd has to say to all this. No wonder I have not heard from him. He must be too ashamed to write.”

“But there is a worse disappointment nearer, I know,” said Mrs. Wallis. “Were not you supposed to marry your cousin, Miss Elliot? To be sure, you and Mr. Elliot were a match, and now it can never take place.” She shook her head with sympathy that might or might not have been genuine.

“No,” muttered Elizabeth with difficulty, “we were not engaged.”

“Not engaged! Well, there’s for you. But perhaps I am wrong, and it was your sister Anne he wanted to marry. Well, if she could have had him, I believe he is a richer man than the one she did take.”

“Now, dearest, we do not know how things were between them, so do not be tittle-tattling,” her husband said with a fond smile. “Elliot won’t be harmed by this development; why should he not have a mistress if he likes it, and she is a saucy, plump piece – hey Sir Walter?”

Sir Walter, who had visited Mrs. Clay’s bed in the middle of any number of furtive nights, reddened. “She was never to my taste, Wallis,” he said stiffly. “A bad complexion.”

“Of course, of course. Well, Shepherd comes to Bath later this week, and we will hear the whole story from him. I wonder if he is pleased with his daughter trying for such a catch, or angry at her disgrace.”

Comments

Well, well, well. What a blow to Sir Walter and Elizabeth! I love the reactions. I too do wonder at Mr. Shepherd’s reaction. I think it’s pretty funny that Elizabeth trusted Mrs. Clay, whose information about Mr. Elliott being attracted to her, drew attention away from the two of them. So vain for Elizabeth to believe everything flattering that was said to her. Just goes to show the shallowness. And Sir Elliott is no smarter. Loved this missing chapter this morning. Thank you Diana.

Poor Sir Walter and Elizabeth, abandoned by everyone, even Anne has left them. How funny this chapter was. Everyone came out of the mess with what they wanted except the 2 that were “better” than the others. I wonder how shabby their clothes really were…what would they do in the age of jeans with holes in them and ragged hems. Thanks for the morning laugh.

I’m so glad you got a laugh, Maggie, that makes ME smile! But you know what I think, Sir Walter and Elizabeth are so impossible about their perfect clothing, their stuff probably is not really all THAT bad! I mean, maybe they have to keep wearing the same things to parties. Life is tough!

And speaking of clothes – they had not the use of deodorants to help protect such from sweat stains nor detergents like we do which could remove such. So their appearances would deteriorate further.

Just desserts for these two! They deluded no one but themselves while looking down their noses. I do wonder if Shepherd will remain in Sir Walter’s employ for long. And, is he an honest steward? I always wondered if he was “putting a little aside” while he observed the careless economies of these two. Neither of them would think to check over the books and would leave it to him implicitly. Bad me for such thoughts.

Very true about deodorants – fortunately it was a cool climate, and no doubt they wore “sweat shields,” padded inserts that people used to put inside their clothing. Sensible you for such thoughts about Mr. Shepherd! Glad you liked it!

It is so inappropriate of me to be sitting at my desk giggling early this morning. LOL At least the rest of the office isn’t here just yet to hear me. Oh poor Sir Walter and Elizabeth, delusions are rampant betwixt those two. Of course Wallis is right, it won’t affect Mr. Elliot in the long run, but that doesn’t make it easier to take. Very well done Diana!

There! You said it! Sir Walter visited Mrs. Clay in the night. Oh, my! I’d never thought of that but now that you mention it, I am not surprised. I’ve always thought about the implications for Anne leaving her sister and father and not about how they took the loss. Great job, Diana!

(evil giggle) Yup, sometimes it’s just more shocking to say it matter-of-factly than have a whole descriptive sex scene, don’t you think? Besides which, does ANYBODY really want to see Sir Walter and Mrs. Clay in flagrante? I think not! Thanks, I’m so glad you liked it, and thanks for the twitter too!

ROFL!!! Oh, this is delicious. Might we have more? I am curious what you would do with Mr Shepherd himself — was he skimming money, what does he think of his daughter’s new status, and does he have other clients with more money.

“She shook her head with sympathy that might or might not have been genuine.” Heh-heh! The hypocritical Elliots are so deserving of such “friendship.”

I cannot decide which book I love more, P&P or Persuasion. Unfortunately, while there are plenty of P&P offshoots, Persuasion stories are much harder to find. I am so glad I found this website, and I am particularly excited about this Persuasion 200 series. I actually finished all the scenes in one sitting (with a sore neck to show for it). Thank you for your wonderful writing and your insights into what happened behind the curtains. I enjoyed every bit, and I do hope there are more to come! Cheers to all the authors who participated!

Thank you, Christine. I have to say that participating in this P200 project was the most enjoyable of any variations project I’ve ever had a part in. I do wish it could go on and on, but it had to end someplace! I’d like to do one of my own, though, so perhaps will go in that direction myself.

Would you, please? I already marked down Jack’s new Persuasion title, and it would sure be a treat to have not one, but two Persuasion works to look forward to! Hopefully we will get a sneak peak here too?

Christine, the fact is that I am retiring this year from my job at Warner Bros, precisely in order to be able to write full time. I hope to write plenty of Jane Austen-related novels, and you can bet I’ll preview them all here! That’s what Austen Variations is all about, and can you imagine how excited I am at the prospect of being able to write as much as I like? Thanks for being interested.

The pretty, silly Mrs. Wallis–exactly so!. Yes, the father and daughter got their just desserts indeed. But I must confess–heretical thought–that I always thought Mr. Elliot and Elizabeth would have been even more perfect just desserts for one another. And he would have had sense enough to know that getting Mrs. Clay away from Sir Walter wouldn’t have stopped him from falling prey to some other designing woman. Now he’s blown his chances for an inside situation that would have given him permanent influence over Sir Walter.

Delightful to hear from you, Gracia Fay! I have to admit I never thought of your solution – but now that I hear it, it makes absolute logical sense. Of course, Mr. Elliot’s best chance of keeping Sir Walter away from any designing woman, would be by marrying Elizabeth. That was one of the benefits he anticipated in marrying Anne. But you don’t take one thing into account: Mr. Elliot is a clever, discerning man, and a rich man, who has been indulging his tastes for years. He has always disliked Elizabeth, and seen her for exactly the narrow, annoying, stupid fool that she is. He ran away from the marriage to her that was dangled before him as a young man, and at his even more discerning time of life, he had even less desire to be married to somebody who would grate on his intelligence and taste every minute. Marriage to Elizabeth was not worth even the prospect of a baronetcy to him. Depend on it: he weighed the option. By taking Mrs. Clay as his mistress, he is not obligated to marry her, though I do wish Jane Austen had given us the clue as to whether “his cunning or hers” would prevail. Do you remember there was an excellent piece of early Austen fan fiction under that title, that was the JASNA AGM conference gift one year? I believe it has been published on the JASNA website, along with my own In Defense of Mrs. Elton. Did you see the eclipse in Ventura, Gracia Fay? Friendly, Diana W.